I bought a couple of 116-link Deore chains from Merlin a few months ago, and tried to fit one of them today. It came up short relative to the chain I was replacing, and when I counted there were only 56 outer plates. With the quick link acting as an outer plate that's 57, so a total of 114 links right?
Did I miss something, or did Merlin mess up? Both chains I ordered are the same length and both mention 116 links on the packaging, although this is a sticker on a plastic bag rather than a blue Shimano retail box.
Just wanted to get a sanity check before I return these to Merlin.
The chain you are measuring against has stretched .
I just swapped out a chain that was well over a whole link longer than the one it replaced.
1% stretch would be 1.16 links right?
Oh, I think I misread here.
Could be grey product that was pre split for a specific mfr drivetrain install.
Surely this is Merlin’s secret way of increasing profits.
Nick 2 links from every chain and voila, 58 chains later and if they join them all together they get a ‘free’ chain to sell.
Capitalist geniuses
sounds like it - but to avoid hassle are they too short actually? Are you just sizing against the old chain. I can't remember a new chain I haven't had to take links out of to get the right length.
I am comparing by counting links, not by measuring overall length. My method for years has been to get the old & new chains and arrange them in 10-link lengths so that I can easily see how many links there are. The new chain definitely has only 56 outer plates, but the bag is labelled 116 links.
Could be grey product that was pre split for a specific mfr drivetrain install.
This is my theory, they were relatively inexpensive at the time. I am guessing someone just assumed what length they were without checking.
I can’t remember a new chain I haven’t had to take links out of to get the right length.
Same here, but in this case 116 links is correct. It's what the bike came with from new, and when fitting a SRAM GX AXS upgrade kit this afternoon, the SRAM recommended method for determining chain length matched the existing chain exactly.
Chains don't stretch. The rollers wear causing the gaps between links to lengthen. If you can stretch the plates of a chain then give Ineos a call, they're waiting for you.
Chains don’t stretch
:Massive eye roll:
Pointless symantec argument about a commonly used term to describe the increase in distance from end to end of an object.
Pointless [s]symantec[/s] semantic argument
FTFY 😉
😛
Plastic bag? Is it cut from a roll and an error?
Measure with a ruler, each link is 1/2" pin to pin
Measure with a ruler, each link is 1/2″ pin to pin
Some time later....
Some time later….
😂😂 That wasn't quite what I had in mind...chapeau
Some bubblewrap's just been delivered; I'll pop it in the corner
I've lost track, what was the answer in the end? 🙂
I was measuring the new chain, 57" or 58" 🙂
Don't trust the label - I bought one of the cheap XT8100 108 link chains from Merlin, had a 112 (or similarly wrong) label on the grey import bag, but was indeed 108 links. Your measurement is probably right.
Thanks all - just wanted to make sure that it wasn't some case of "oh, everyone knows that 116-link chains only have 114 links". I'll get onto Merlin for an exchange.
Update: I got back from holiday a few days ago, and contacted Merlin. They replied promptly and gave me a shipping label so I could return the short chains for free, and they will refund me the original cost (apparently they don't have a suitable replacement in stock).
Pretty much perfect handling of the issue from their end, nice company to do business with.